When
asked about her highly publicized — but never directly confirmed —
romance with Tanaka, Carey let slip that he was her “boyfriend.”

“I’m
just going to be like ‘I really don’t talk about my personal life.’
Because that’s what I used to do and it really worked for a minute,
back, a while ago,” she said. “I just don’t feel comfortable talking
about my personal life. … Me and my boyfriend don’t want to do that.”

Tanaka and Carey have kept the world guessing about their relationship status ever since she split from Australian fiancé James Packer
in October. Shortly after Carey’s engagement ended it was revealed that
Packer had issues with the singer’s relationship with Tanaka, who was
working as a backup dancer on Carey’s world tour.

Since
Carey’s split, the Grammy-winning artist hasn’t exactly shied away from
showing off all the time she was spending with Tanaka — the pair were
seen frolicking on a beach in Hawaii in December, holding hands onstage during a Christmas performance and posing in a hot tub
for an intimate Valentine’s Day snap, bubbly in hand. And that’s not
even getting into how Tanaka and Carey’s blossoming romance was
documented on her E! docu-series, Mariah’s World.

The
sudden yet mysterious nature of Tanaka and Carey’s relationship led to
some fans doubting that they were actually an item. Even Carey’s
friendly ex Nick Cannon said that he didn’t “buy” the romance as it was documented on Mariah’s World.

“First
of all, I think the whole reality show is fake,” he said in an
interview with Howard Stern in February. “I’m a producer, so you can’t
have a well-lit private conversation. Like, that s— doesn’t happen,” he
explained. “I don’t buy none of that s—.”

However,
Cannon, who continues to co-parent the couple’s two children,
5-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe, with Carey, did add that he was
fine with whatever made the singer happy.